Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has tackled the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for surreptitiously dissociating itself from the removal of petroleum subsidy in Nigeria by the current government.
At a press conference during the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington DC, United States, Abebe Selassie, IMF’s African Region Director, had described the decision to remove fuel subsidy by Nigeria’s government entirely as a domestic decision that has no input by the financial institutions.
However, the NLC in a statement signed by its president, Joe Ajaero, on Sunday said Nigerians are aware that IMF usually recommends harsh, difficult and unworkable economic policies to developing nations, including Nigeria that end up impoverishing the people.
“Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) believes that it is cynical and indeed typical of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) to recently deny responsibility for the Nigerian government’s removal of petroleum subsidy. IMF and its cousin in economic mischief – the World Bank remains the twin forces that have longstanding pattern of recommending harsh and unworkable economic policies to developing nations,” the statement said in part.
The NLC further argued that in the “usual subterfuge” of the IMF and World Bank, they often present advisories as development and growth strategies but these usually turn out to inflict economic woes on the people.
they unfortunately lead to increased socioeconomic hardship and stagnatio.
The statement continued, “IMF’s recent statement is a display of subterfuge and evasion. This denial of involvement in Nigeria’s subsidy removal, coupled with the assertion that it was a ‘domestic decision,’ disregards the extensive influence that the IMF wields in policy formation within many developing countries.
“Despite this assertion, the IMF’s policy dialogues often suggest subsidy cuts as necessary steps toward fiscal sustainability. For Nigeria, where successive governments have frequently yielded to these recommendations, the IMF’s disavowal rings hollow, as it underplays the fund’s direct impact on the nation’s economic policies.
“The NLC has become more worried over this denial at this time which is another signpost of the already disturbing policies by the Nigerian government at the behest of the IMF and World Bank and which IMF is now trying to distance itself.
“It shows that the institution is working very hard to stay away from the blame or the backlash that its policy directions will evidently bring in the future. IMF must know that Nigerians are not fools and we are always aware of the destructive influences its awful policy paths for Nigeria and indeed Africa has been. It is pretentious and truly too late to begin to deny complicity because we warned the government about the consequences of implementing IMF and World Bank driven policies.
“As IMF and World Bank continue to pretend not to know the apparent obviousness of the social costs of its policy recommendations another layer of concern is added to the entire denial. While the IMF acknowledges the ‘significant social costs involved,’ it casually suggests that governments can mitigate these hardships through its idea of expanded social protections which is a system that beggars the people forcing them to dwell on handouts in this case RICE that never gets to the people.
“The reality in Nigeria has continued to reveal a profound disconnect – subsidy removal and price hikes have pushed essential goods beyond the reach of many, with government-provided social safety nets remaining woefully inadequate. This gap between IMF recommendations and the lived experiences of Nigerians highlights a fundamental and deliberate oversight in the fund’s approach to economic policy.
“Once again, we call on the World Bank and IMF to remove their knees from our necks so that we can breathe as a nation. They have become the major problem we have as a nation and we may be forced to soon demand that they leave Nigeria entirely as their policies have continued to undermine our Economy and sabotage the people and the nation.
“IMF should not worry for we know that the Petrol price hike and the Electricity tariff hikes were domestic decisions but we also know that it is a case of ‘Esau’s Hands but Jacob’s voice.’ IMF should not present itself cowardly but should stand up and own up! That is what is called honesty and transparency which is the bedrock of IMF’s much vaunted institutional integrity!” The NLC said.
